Overview
- The market moved higher from Monday’s modest close and extended gains in early Tuesday trade, with the KSE-100 up more than 1,300 points in intraday trade and trading around the 167,000–168,000 level.
- The government cut the Petroleum Levy to shield consumers from higher import costs, which left retail petrol prices unchanged but shifted a material cost burden onto local refineries.
- Refinery shares plunged into lower-circuit limits and were the session’s biggest laggards after the levy change, producing panic selling in that sector while index heavyweights supported the rally.
- Ready-market activity weakened sharply, with turnover falling roughly 46 percent week-on-week to about 443 million shares, a drop that left liquidity thin and made the market more sensitive to headlines.
- Reports of a reported US strike on Qeshm Island pushed oil-price and escalation risk back onto the table, which matters for Pakistan because higher oil costs can worsen the import bill, inflation and the current account.